Clune was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1997 general election succeeding her father, Peter Barry who was retiring. In the Dáil, she was appointed Fine Gael front bench spokesperson on Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands in June 2000 and spokesperson on Environmental and Consumer Affairs from February 2001.

Clune regained her Dáil seat at the 2007 general election. She was party deputy spokesperson on Enterprise with special responsibility for Innovation from 2007 to 2010. In July 2010, she was appointed as party spokesperson on Innovation and Research.[3]